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I recently passed an interview for an AO competition in the Civil Service. This was actually from an AO recruitment competition that had originally came out in 2013 (I got a 51 week temporary contract from it originally) and although I didn't score high enough at the written test at that time, they did further interviews last month for people who didn't originally get through in 2013.

Has anyone else here passed the interview and if so have you received your merit number?

All depends on business needs and if some places need to fill a lot of staff quickly. I waited 5 months for my fixed term EO2 call up where I currently am, but i was much lower down the list, and roughly 18 people started on my first day. I would say with Christmas coming up you woul be hard pressed to hear anything until mid January

'the NICS are currently running an AO competition internally. I am a current civil servant, but thinking of taking early retirement, but owing to the fact that as a female I cannot get my state pension until I reach 66, a long way off. Also I heard that there will be another VES in 2018. Is it is worth going for the VES, and then coming back through an agency, as a higher grade to keep a roof over my head

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